Around 500 foreign exchange staff will be transferred from Travelex to Sainsbury’s Bank Travel Money – almost doubling the supermarket bank’s workforce.
The switch follows Sainsbury’s Bank agreeing a five year contract with Travelex which will see it make a push into the travel money market.
Travelex will continue to supply more than 50 currencies to the supermarket bank’s in store bureaux across the UK, and online via its click and collect and home delivery services.
Sainsbury’s plans include opening 28 more bureau by the end of the year following the unveiling of its 150th travel money outlet in Brentwood in Essex.
The bank said it is “maximising the opportunity presented by the growth in overseas travel which could see UK consumers take more than 100 million holidays – overseas and domestic – by 2017”.
As part of the Travelex deal, Sainsbury’s bank will also look at new distribution channels, which will include trialling ATMs that dispense foreign currency. The first will be installed in Sainsbury’s Tottenham Court Road in London later this month.
Bank chief executive Peter Griffiths said: “Travel money is a key part of our growth strategy and we’re delighted to be able to offer the convenience of competitively priced travel money in our supermarkets.
“Our unique Nectar offering, that rewards the Sainsbury’s customer, has seen around 85% of our travel money customers receive a special rate as well as Nectar points.
“Our new contract with Travelex will enable us to further enhance our offer for the Sainsbury’s customer and we’re delighted to be welcoming our 500 new bureaux colleagues to the bank.”
Travelex partner and business development director Steve O’Donovan added: “Over the past seven years we have worked closely with Sainsbury’s Bank to provide competitive foreign exchange solutions to meet their customer needs.
“I’m delighted that we are renewing this partnership and will continue to provide our expertise and innovation to help drive growth for the bank.”
Sainsbury’s Bank says it has dispensed more £1 billion in foreign currency and served more than five million customers since 2007. In the last year, the supermarket bank has seen a 23% growth in sales.
Euros and dollars are the most popular currencies but it has seen significant growth in a range of other currencies such as Mexican peso up 49% and the Croatian kuna up 55% on last year.